and the flying thoughts of things stuffed inside

THEATER BLUES: a YuiParu FanFic #5

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters. I just borrowed them from their rightful owners for the sake of having some fun writing and reading. This is my first attempt in writing a fan fiction. I’ve never written anything like this before and I am relatively new in this fandom. So, there is a good chance that the people involved may be a bit out of character. Thinking that it is set in an alternate universe where one of the girls was not an idol, the Iwate Incidents had never happened, and LINE had not yet been a popular way of communication may help. Regarding ratings, I’ve never written anything that can be rated more than PG-13. However, the story does portray a same-sex attraction between girls. So, if you’re not comfortable or not allowed to access such thing wherever you are, please do feel free to stop reading here. Reader discretion advised.

The two girls sat on either side of the low table. The room was rather dark with the lights off. On the table, the cake sat as a center piece, completed with a couple of lighted thin candles. Yuihan felt a bit shy when Shimazaki-san asked her to sing a happy birthday song together. But, the other girl sang nonchalantly, so she tried to overcome that shyness and sang along, laughing a bit here and there.

“Okay, Yokoyama-san. Now, make a wish and blow the candle. Douzo.”

Yuihan did as she was told. She already knew what she wanted to wish for. There were only a few things that she wants in this life.

“Haiii! O tanjoubi omedetouuu!” Shimazaki cheered and clapped as both of the candles went out.

“Haha, thank you,” Yuihan laughed and turned the lights on.

Celebrating a birthday with a famous celebrity was not something that would happen every day or even every year. Many fans would kill for a chance like that. Yuihan smiled at the thought.

“I will give the first piece of this cake to you, then, Shimazaki-san,” she said after cutting the cake and put a piece on a small plate, “Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me.”

The words were really sincere. It was coming from her heart. But, if Shimazaki Haruka was affected by the heartfelt words, she did not show it. She just took the offered cake from Yuihan.

“Thank you,” was her only response.

They ate in silence. The cake was really good. Yuihan made a note to herself to thank Togasaki-san and anyone involved properly later.

“Ne… Yokoyama-san.”

“Ha.. hai,” she was caught off guard by Shimazaki’s unusual attempt to start the conversation.

“Since I am just a bit younger than you, and we celebrate your birthday together, it feels kind of weird to hear you calling me ‘Shimazaki-san’ all the time. Not even the other staff called me that.”

“Ah… hai. Sorry.”

“Well, it’s okay. I am just not used to it. But, why don’t you try calling me with my first name or my nickname? After all, spending the night together and celebrate a birthday together are what friends do, right?”

Once again, Yuihan was caught off guard by her words. But, she quickly smiled. Shimazaki Haruka was well-known for her straight forward attitude. She did not feel the need to sugarcoat her words. For Yuihan, it actually was just a proof of honesty. So, hearing the word “friends” being used to refer to both of them was surely a good thing.

“Ah, hai. So… should I call you Haruka…-san?”

Silence. There were a few heartbeats of obvious pause in their conversation as Shimazaki Haruka did not give her answer immediately.

-san: a honorific used by the Japanese; can be considered equal to “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Miss”

-han: a honorific used by the Japanese, especially in Kansai region; equal to -san in Kanto region

Douzo: Please, kindly, by all means, here you are

Hai: Yes, alright

O tanjoubi omedetou: Happy birthday

Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much

Ne: can have many different meaning, but in this context refer to something equal to “Well..” or “You know…”; used to grab someone’s attention or to start a rather delicate conversation, just like “Ano…” and “Jaa…”

Honma: Really; usually used by people speaking in Kansai dialect, equal to “Hontou” in Kanto region

In Japan, people generally call each other by their family name with an added honorifics (-san, -han, etc.). Calling someone by their first name, especially without any honorifics can show a big step forward in a relationship as it is usually just done by lovers, really close friends, and to younger family member. Fans of an idol group, however, tend to call their favorite member with their nicknames (at least when talking with other fans).